No Big Deal
by Surreysmum
Summary: A slash ficlet. Everett tells just exactly what he did to keep Virgil safe those last days in Appaloosa.


_They love each other, said Harris, even if they might never say those exact words. It's a deep, complex friendship, though don't expect it to unravel like the one between the cowboys in Brokeback Mountain._

_Said Mortensen: "They cut those scenes."_

_Appaloosa: TIFF press conference diaries_  
><em>By Mark Medley<em>  
><em>National Post<em>  
><em>September 05, 2008<em>

Herewith, a scene they cut... :-)

Title: No Big Deal  
>Author: surreysmum<br>Rating: R  
>Pairing: HitchCole (implied); Hitch/Bragg  
>Disclaimer: Robert Parker made the original characters; Viggo &amp; Ed brought them to life for me. I don't own any of it. <p>

Cole caught up with Hitch one evening about two weeks after the shootout, not far out of Appaloosa. Seemed Hitch hadn't managed to get as far as he meant to.

Hitch looked up and saw Cole across the campfire, standing there. He wasn't wearing his badge.

"H'lo, Virgil."

"H'lo, Everett," Cole said, and took a seat on a log. Everett passed him a tin plate with the last of the rabbit.

They ate in silence for a while, Virgil taking the occasional slug from his flask. Everett waited for quite a bit, but Virgil couldn't seem to get to it.

"How's Allie?" asked Everett eventually.

"She's gone north. Rich guy from Chicago."

Everett knew better than to sympathize out loud.

"She asked me to send her regards."

Everett grunted.

It was a fair night. The wind was cool, but the sky was clear. Virgil was messing about with the rabbit bones. Obviously there was more. Everett waited patiently.

"Allie told me what he done to you. Bragg."

Everett sprang to his feet. "Fuck," he said emphatically and, seizing his eight-gauge, strode off into the trees.

Virgil followed into the darkness. Everett was a black shadow, still and stiff amongst the tree-trunks.

"Is it true?" asked Virgil.

_Hitch on his knees in front of Bragg's fancy pants, trying to shut his ears against the rancher's mocking words. Trying not to flinch when ringed fingers seized his short hair, jammed him hard against stinking pubic curls, choked him on the turgid flesh invading his throat. _

_Hitch in the alleyway afterwards, spitting hard and futilely, chugging down a whole flask of whisky to drown the taste, kill the little buggers in his gullet._

_Over and over again._

_And then, that one time, the sound of a door opening. Allie's scream and hysterical giggles. A better woman than Virgil knew. She'd persuaded Bragg she'd be more fun than Everett, more pleasant to take advantage of for Virgil's sake. And, laughing, Bragg had agreed - and then of course he had them both. But Everett had made sure Allie never knew that._

"Yeah, it's true," Everett said from the shadows. He moved abruptly towards the horses. "Guess I'll just be going, then."

Virgil cut him off from his escape. And Everett was astonished to find himself wrapped in solid arms that squeezed him hard, and Virgil was muttering, "Oh, fuck. Hitch. Hitch." Without realizing till it was too late, Everett squeezed back, brushing his cheek briefly against Virgil's.

They both backed off, embarrassed. But Virgil said, "Come sit," in a tone that brooked no argument. So they sat at the fire again, looking into the flames.

After a while, Virgil asked what had to be asked. "Why?"

"He had two guns on you practically the whole time, from opposite sides. I couldn't take one out without the other one killing you."

Virgil sat and absorbed that for a time. "Did you…? You didn't … let him som… somd… dammit!"

"Sodomize me? Nope." _But I woulda_.

Virgil was angry now. "Why didn't you just blast him?"

"I did," Everett pointed out mildly.

"Not later! Right then!"

Everett considered the flames carefully. "You were settlin'. I figured if I didn't make trouble I might be able to stick around for a while." He picked up a stick and poked at the logs. "And anyway, it was no big deal. I knew how."

Everett glanced at Virgil's face just long enough to be sure he'd understood the full significance of that. Then he got suddenly to his feet and headed for his horse again.

Virgil was right there with him. "Would you _quit_ that?" he hollered and, seizing Everett by the sleeve, he steered him back to the fire. Then he sat down on the ground right next to the log Everett was on and leaned back, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

The fire crackled into the long silence.

Virgil said, "I don't know how. Will you show me?"

"Nope," said Everett immediately.

Virgil leaned over to add another couple of pieces of wood to the fire.

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't like it."

Virgil shrugged. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't. If I don't, we'll quit."

There was another long, crackling silence.

Eventually Everett said, "OK."

As it turned out, Virgil did. Like it, that is.

_finis_


End file.
